Deathly Saviour
by Sailor Centauri
Summary: There are 3 parts to a new puzzle that create a confusing picture. Will the Gundam Pilots be able to figure out what the picture is? And most importantly, will they accept the mission?
1. Suspicious Circumstance

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam Wing characters or any of their Mobile Suits/Gundams.   
I do however own the new character Katrina Monroe, and her Gundam Death Shadow.  
  
Prologue to Deathly Saviour  
  
It was a cool night in the desert; and silence filled every area. No one was outside, as it was quite late; and everyone was asleep, except for the five Gundam Pilots. They were sitting in a living room in a mountain base that Quatre had had built in the desert. Heero stood against a wall as usual, staring at the floor, deep in thought. Trowa stood by the window, looking out at the now deep blue coloured desert and the full moon that floated in the sky. Wufei sat on a chair by the wall, and was going over a detailed sketch of their next mission, which they had to go on the next afternoon. Quatre sat on the other chair, with his elbows resting on the arms and a book in his hands. And last but least, there was Duo. He was lying on the sofa with his hands behind his head, and his eyes closed. None of them spoke; Duo didn't even try to break the silence with an annocuace comment either.   
-----  
Meanwhile someone had appeared outside, and was watching the pilots from behind a couple of supply carriers. The person was wearing dark clothes, so he/she was invisible against the darkness. For a while, the person watched what the pilots were doing. Trowa shifted his weight onto his other leg, Quatre got up, disappeared and came back with a glass of water and Wufei stood up and walked around a little; only to return to where he was sitting a few moments later. The person shifted his or her weight against one of the supply carriers, and it must have been a lot of his/her weight, as the carrier slightly shook. Trowa had been scanning the horizon for a few minutes, and had seen the carrier move out of the corner of his eyes. He turned his head towards the carrier, and looked closer but could see no one. Never the less, he moved away from the window and turned to the other pilots.  
"I think we have a visitor outside," he said in a casual voice. Quatre, Wufei and Heero looked up at him, and Duo opened his eyes and sat up.  
"A visitor?" Heero questioned.  
"Yes, by the supply carriers." The other four pilots moved from where they were and went over to the window and looked down at the supply carriers, but could see no one.  
"Are you sure Trowa?" Quatre asked.  
"I may not have seen the person, but I'm positive there's someone there," he replied.   
"How can you be sure?" asked Heero.   
"I saw one of the carriers move, and since there's no breeze outside I'm assuming someone's out there."  
"Well let's go and see," said Duo, as he headed for the door. The other pilots turned and followed him.   
-----  
The person, who'd been watching them, had seen them leave and had assumed that they were coming to find out who was outside; so he/she turned around and left quickly.   
-----  
The door to the base opened and the five pilots walked out into the night air, each carrying a flashlight and a gun, just in case the person outside was hostile. They searched around the supply carriers for a while, but found no one.  
"Trowa, there's no one here," Quatre called as he looked under one of the tarpaulins on one of the carriers.  
"Maybe he or she is higher up," said Trowa as he flashed his touch up onto the ledge of a small cliff that the carriers were parked under, but no one was there.  
"Trowa, are you sure you weren't seeing things?" asked Duo.  
"Positive," Trowa reiterated again. After a while, the pilots gave up and went back into the base. The person who had been watching them, was still watching them, but from a higher up position than Trowa had assumed.   
-----  
The pilots returned to the living room, and returned to where they'd been before. But after a while, they decided to turn in for the night. They stood up and left the room. Trowa took one final glance out of the window, then turned the light off and left the room. The person who had been watching the pilots, turned around on the platform he/she was standing on and entered what looked like a cockpit. He/she sat down and the doors to the cockpit closed. The engines on the large object roared to life, but no sound came from them. The object took off and flew away at a high speed, leaving a thin cloud of smoke in its wake…  
  
So the story begins. Please r&r let me know what you think of this little bit.  



	2. Dark Surprise

The next morning, the pilots were sitting in the living room again. It was about eleven o'clock and they were debating whether or not to start off on their mission early.  
"I say we go now," said Duo.   
"I agree," said Wufei. "After all, it doesn't matter when you go as long as you get the job done."  
"I'm with that," agreed Quatre.  
"Then it's settled," said Duo. "We're going." He pushed his chair away from the table and headed out of the room. The other pilots shook their heads, and pushing their chairs away, they followed him down to the hanger. Well nearly all of them did. Trowa had to take one more quick look out of the window at the supply carriers, but of course no one was there. He turned finally forgetting about the night before, and ran down to the Gundam's hangers.  
  
When they all finally arrived they all gazed up at their Gundam's, all of which had been fixed after their last mission where they'd taken quite a beating. Duo never thought he'd see Deathscythe look so good again, and was pleased to see the paintwork was shining like new, after all, it had nearly been all burnt off the last time. Heero just stared at Zero quietly, his suit hadn't taken that much damage, accept to the shield and shoulder blades nothing serious. Trowa and Wufei simply walked over to their Gundam's, looked at them a moment, then pulled themselves up to the cockpit using the foot stirrups hanging in front of them. They both sat down and began to inspect the controls, while Duo and Heero were pulled up to their suits cockpits. Quatre had taken a moment to take in how good Sandrock looked, before turning to thank Rashid and the others for the fine job they'd done.  
"You're very welcome master Quatre," Rashid smiled. "The repairs really didn't take that long."  
"So I see. Well I'd better go, this mission is important." Rashid nodded as his young master disappeared into his Gundam's cockpit and closed the door, running over the controls, checking to make sure they were in working order. He was just checking his view screens, when one flashed on, revealing Duo's ever-smiling face. He couldn't help but smile back, as Duo forced his yard long braid back over his shoulder.  
"Let's get going Quatre," he called. "Time waits for nobody."  
"Duo the philosopher," Wufei remarked over the radio. "Never thought I'd see the day." A few good-natured chuckles followed his comment, as Heero just stared blankly wondering what was so funny. Finally regaining his composure, Duo fired up Deathscythes engines and as the hatch doors opened to the hanger, the gigantic black and white Gundam flew up and disappeared. Quatre was not far behind him, with the others following with Heero right behind them all.   
  
Also not far behind them, and impervious to their scanners, was another Gundam, a suit never seen before. It was around the same height as Quatre's, with some similar aspects in design. It was mostly black and white with the occasional rouge like colour around the edges to make it more imposing. The pilot was listening on the radio; hmm, very interesting was her initial thought.  
"This is going to be one heck of a mission," Duo commented still not noticing the trailing suit. "A little boring mind you, but a mission none the less." Trowa turned Heavyarms around slightly, trying to avoid a large dust cloud that Duo was sending up as he powered through the desert.   
"Well, we can't always put our lives on the line, although you usually find someway." Duo smirked as one of the monitors came on, on one of the screens in Trowa's Gundam. Trowa just stared back, looking as he usually did, emotionless.  
"Gees, cheer up would ya," Duo called. "Anyone would think you didn't enjoy this."  
"War is not an enjoyment," came the even response. A few beads of sweat dripped down Duo's face as he gazed into Trowa's eyes.  
"Whatever," he announced finally.  
"Would you two quit with the philosophy, we're there," Heero told them. The other pilots nearly jumped hearing his voice; after all, he'd been quiet for most of the journey. Duo gave Trowa one last look, and switched his view screen off, landing Deathscythe in a quiet forest area. He lay it down and opened the doors, stepping out into the fresh air.   
  
He gazed around as the other cockpit doors opened up, and the others stepped out of their Gundam's. Quatre took a deep breath of the clean air, filling his lungs as much as possible, then turned his attention to the huge building a couple of hundred yards in front of them. Trowa and Wufei emerged next, looking around, as if they were worried someone was going to jump out at them or something. Heero simply stood on his Gundam's chest, staring at the target, dark contempt clearly showing in his dark brown eyes. Duo knew all too well that he hated this enemy and wanted to cause as much damage as possible. Best not to keep him waiting, he thought to himself and jumped down off of his Gundam's chest, patting the pocket of his jacket where he kept his gun. Slowly one by one the others followed; Quatre coming last as he closed his Gundam's cockpit and checked to make sure his gun was fully loaded.  
"Let's be careful ok," Trowa warned. "This place is supposed to be highly guarded." He got a nod from all the pilots besides Heero, who simply snorted and disappeared into the forest depths.  
"That guy is so careless sometimes," Wufei muttered under his breath, and took off after the boy.   
"Why break the habit of a life time?" asked Trowa, as he and Quatre made their way into the twining forest pathways, with Duo hot on their heals. As they left the Gundam which had followed them, quietly landed a little way from their Gundam's, slowly going down on one knee, practically although not completely hidden by the foliage of the forest. The cockpit opened and the pilot stepped out, the small wind immediately tussling her somewhat curly raven black hair. She watched them leave, and then turned her attention to the base. "Ah, a mobile suit factory," she muttered more to herself and her Gundam than anyone else. "So that's what they're up to. I think I'll stay and watch the fireworks, this mission has to have some entertainment." She looked over at Gundam 02; the huge black and white beast with it's twin energy scythe lay amongst the trees, staring blankly into the sky. She thought to what she'd heard it's pilot say on the way there.  
'A little boring mind you, but a mission none the less'  
"How right you are," she chuckled, and pulling herself onto her Gundam's shoulder, sat down and leant against it's head, watching the base.  
  
They finally reached the edge of the great expanse of forest and looked out towards the compound that held the new mobile dolls. It was heavily fortified, with high fences, guards at every entrance and surveillance cameras. Duo sighed staring at the place, oh yeah, he thought to himself, this is gonna be a piece of cake. Heero scowled as the guards began to walk around a little, they seemed edgy, good. As if he knew what he was thinking Trowa placed his hand down on his shoulder.  
"Timing Heero," he whispered. "Timing." Heero growled quietly and nodded. Quatre gave them a nod from where he was standing a couple of yards away. Catching the glance they turned to Wufei, and he nodded. Trowa gave Heero the ok sign and he silently slipped towards the two closest guards with Duo. The two guards who were heading back towards each other, both gasped when they saw their attackers coming at them from either side, and attempted to do something about it, but were both knocked out as Duo and Heero pulled their guns away and slammed them to the floor.  
"Peace of cake," Duo commented waving to the other three pilots. They came over and using the security keys gained entrance into the compound, and slowly entered the building.  
  
The building was a massive expanse of dark corridors, with about as much light as a flickering candle could offer. Trowa looked around, having taking it upon himself to time everything they did.   
"Ok, Duo, Quatre," he decided as they got to a T-junction in the corridors. "Go to the left, Heero, you and Wufei go right and I'll handle the rest." With a nod Duo and Quatre lifted their guns and disappeared down the corridor on the left, soon disappearing into the darkness. Heero and Wufei turned down the other corridor and disappeared, slipping into the darkness like shadows. Right, Trowa thought to himself, let's see how I can take some of the heat off of them for a while. The thought caused him to smile to himself, and he was just about to head down the corridor Quatre and Duo had gone down, when a hand grabbed him, spinning him around. He instinctively drew his gun and came face to face with a guard, who looked less then scared at the sight of him.  
"A kid? What are you doing here and with such a big weapon?"  
"My job," Trowa responded rushing at him. His size and speed allowed him to outmanoeuvre the guard easily, and quickly he brought the barrel of his gun down on his head, causing a deep gash. The guard dropped to the floor unconscious, a pool of blood forming around his head. Trowa looked down at him for a moment, then holstering his gun took off down the corridor.   
  
Quatre and Duo had reached their destiny, the control room for the mobile dolls. It was behind a huge door, obviously locked. Duo bent down to have a closer look at it. It was a computerised lock, and it was obvious that only a key card or a code of some kind could open it.   
"Any ideas?" asked Quatre. Duo looked up at him, a dark smirk playing across his face.  
"Any lock can be picked," he responded with a slight chuckle. "Allow me to demonstrate." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of folded material, and opened it to reveal a set of silver metal picks.  
"Duo," Quatre smiled. "You never cease to amaze me." Duo smirked.  
"Why thank you. Now, let's open this baby." Quatre nodded and holding up his gun, kept an eye out for any trouble, occasionally looking through the window. They had to wait for a signal from Trowa before they could enter though, as every room had a surveillance camera in it. The hallways were too dark for them; one of the little tricks OZ had come up with, for surprise attacks on intruders. Good thing Heero did that research, Quatre thought as he cast a look back over his shoulder at the Deathscythe pilot, or we'd have walked right into a trap. Indeed they would have, the rooms were lit for visual aid, and in the light they'd have been seen easily.  
"Quatre relax," Duo called up, noticing the odd glances his comrade was sending him. "Even though we're in nearly complete darkness, clothes, corridor and all, it's making me nervous."  
"Sorry," Quatre smiled. Duo smirked and went back to trying to pick the lock.  
  
In the opposite direction, Heero and Wufei had made it to the mobile dolls construction bay. They stood up straight and peered into the hanger through the one window, and were shocked to see a load of the annoying suits standing in vertical bays all over the place. There were thousands of parts around to, obviously to create more as the others were shipped out. Wufei took in a deep breath of air, he was somewhat nervous and anxiety filled his body. He wanted to act now, as did Heero, but until they had the signal to do so, they had to wait. Fortunately this door wasn't properly closed, which would make entering a whole lot easier.   
"I wonder what's keeping Trowa," Heero muttered to the other teenager. Wufei said nothing, but sent him a small glance in recognition. Heero shook his head, what a pair they made. He itched to do something, and he hated having to wait, but his waiting would soon be rewarded.  
"I see the charges," Wufei told him as Heero checked to make sure his radio was working. "They're by the main control room up a corner."  
"Good, we're set. I just hope the others don't bodge up."  
"They probably worry about us doing the same," Wufei told him bluntly.  
"I NEVER, bodge up," Heero hissed sharply. Oh yes you have, Wufei thought but he wasn't going to bring that up now, they didn't need to start a fight at such a crucial moment in their mission.  
  
Trowa had since made his way to the surveillance room, and was peering in through the small window. Two guards were sitting by the monitors, carefully watching what was going on. One of them yawned and stood up to stretch, and as he did Trowa took a quick look at the screen he'd been partially covering. It was the control room, with two guards also. They'll have a field day with them, he mused in his mind, thinking of how Duo would enjoy getting the unfair sneaky advantage on them. He wasn't too sure if that applied to Quatre or not though. Quietly he picked the standard lock, he'd learned how to do it properly from Duo; after all he was much better at it than the others were. He pushed the door open thankful it didn't have any rust on its hinges, and quickly attacked the two guards on duty. One was out cold before he could react to Trowa's presence, and the other attempted to reach for the alarm only to find himself locked in hand to hand combat with the brown haired boy. Trowa wasn't nearly as strong, but he was better trained. He kicked his legs out from under him and jabbed him in the chest, finally knocking him out with a hard punch to the face.  
"Huh," he snorted. "They must have better than this." He walked over and blocked the door, activating his radio link with the other pilots while doing so.  
"Quatre," he called. "I have the control room secure. Go right ahead and take out the control room."  
"Roger that," Quatre's voice responded. He turned his attention to the second line, getting through to Heero.  
"Take those things out," he ordered.  
"About time," Heero muttered. Trowa ignored the comment and went about keeping his eye out for trouble.  
  
Back in the control room, Quatre and Duo had made short work of the two guards, much to Duo's disappointment; he'd been expecting a better fight, not a simple knock out. Quatre could only laugh at his comrade's face as he complained, and quickly ran to the computer, moving his hands across the controls as fast as he could. Duo kept watch this time, as he set up a fail safe, just in case something happened while Quatre attempted to destroy the controls through the computer itself.  
"Hurry Quatre," he urged as he hooked up the mini explosive. "We don't know how long we'll have if they figure something is wrong."  
"I'm more worried about Trowa, he's the one making sure our backs are covered," the blonde boy responded. Duo had to agree there, Trowa would be right in the firing line if no one answered at the surveillance room. He was alone to, not a good thing to be in such a tightly secured place. He took another quick glance out of the door, as Quatre carried on his work, finally completing it.   
"Virus placed, it should destroy every shred of programming in that thing very quickly."  
"Good," Duo mused. "Now let's get out of here." Quatre nodded and they fled, contacting Trowa to let him know they were done.  
  
Heero and Wufei had had no problems with guards or anyone else so far. They'd both managed to sneak into the construction bay and grab a load of charges each, and were now attaching them to the mobile dolls in the vertical bays. Heero sent his partner a nod as he placed another charge on the back of one of the suits legs, and Wufei responded with the thumbs up sign.  
"Just the main one to go," Heero whispered looking towards the control booth. Wufei nodded and held up the remaining charge.  
"Good," Heero mused. "Set it up."  
"No problem," Wufei responded, and immediately went to work. Trowa contacted them as they went keeping his voice low, telling them that Duo and Quatre were now making their way out of the building through the way they'd come in. Heero nodded, telling Wufei.  
"Good, now we can go. The charge is set up."  
"Got that Trowa?" asked Heero.  
"Roger," came the response. "I'll meet you guys back in the forest." Trowa's radio signal went dead and the two slunk out of the bay not even being noticed.  
  
Duo and Quatre were waiting in the bushes near the perimeter fence for the other three pilots. Duo was feeling apprehensive, they were taking too long, and Quatre was just filled to the brim with worry. Finally though, Trowa appeared, slinking out of the base, as he slowly slipped under the camera's viewpoint. He joined them in the dense foliage where they waited for confirmation that Heero and Wufei would be coming.   
"Come on, come on," Duo hissed worriedly. "Get yourselves out of there."  
"What's taking so long?" asked Trowa as he watched the open door that was just in view. Quatre's hand tightened around the gun in his hand, he didn't even want to think of what could've happened. Finally though the three released a sigh of relief, as the remaining two pilots appeared. They came running across the bay, glided under the camera and into the darkness.   
"You took ya time didn't ya?" Duo asked pertly. Heero sent him a dark scowl and Wufei plainly ignored him.  
"Come on let's go," Quatre urged. "I think they're getting suspicious."  
"I'd definitely agree," Trowa nodded, noticing some guards running towards the open door. The five vanished into the forest, making the long trip back to their waiting Gundam's.   
  
They arrived back just in time to hear an explosion tear open the silence of the usually quiet area. Bright lights of orange, yellow and red lit up the sky and a huge cloud of dust began billowing up into the air.   
"Strike one for the Gundam pilots," Duo exclaimed.   
"Let's celebrate later," Wufei mused. "We have to get clear first."  
"Spoiled sport," Duo snorted. Wufei sent him a cold look, and climbed onto his Gundam's chest. The other pilots followed his lead, and disappeared into the cockpits, slowly pulling their suits of the floor, surprised they hadn't been spotted, after all, they'd made no attempt to camouflage them before going on the mission, so they figured they were lucky. Their luck was about to run out though, as the guards in the surveillance room had since regained consciousness and had rushed to the screens. Trowa hadn't bothered to destroy them so they could make their escape, because he didn't think the camera's reach was that long, but it was thanks to a satellite uplink. It wasn't normally used, but the guards wanted to see where the intruders were.  
  
The Gundam's were just about to take flight when the sound of huge doors opening helped to disturb the already disturbed silence. The doors caused the Earth to shake, knocking the equilibrium of the suits off.  
"Wow, that has to be off the scale," Duo exclaimed. Near by still unnoticed by anyone, even the pilots, was the other Gundam. The girl had stayed there waiting for the fun; nothing was any better then the enemy having part of their forces crippled. Staying and watching had rewarded her, but now she could feel the rumbling, knowing that a battle was imminent.   
"Now this is more like it," she mused climbing down to her Gundam's cockpit. "A mission is never good without even a small battle." The cockpit to her Gundam closed up, and the safety restraints snapped into place over her shoulders and chest. Now, let's see if I can have a little fun, she thought as her Gundam powered up.  
  
The Battle quickly ensued as the bay doors finally opened up completely and a large force of Virgos appeared out of them. The pilots had hoped they could've gotten away before a battle had started up, how wrong they were. The suits came at them hard and fast, the pilots behind the controls using every amount of skill they had against the Gundam Pilots. Explosions sounded all over the place, as suits exploded, as hits ricoched off the Gundanium suits, leaving mostly cosmetic damage. Duo snorted.  
"Is this the best you lot can do?" he shouted. "If it is it ain't good enough!" In answer to his question a pair of suits rained down on him with their machine guns, scratching Deathscythes paint job, and leaving tiny scratches. Duo growled angrily and swung at the two suits with his energy scythe.  
"No one, scratches my Gundam," he growled.  
"Huh, a few little scratches and he turns into a Heero clone," Trowa mused over the radio. Heero's response was to turn Wing Zero around and blast three of the numerous Virgos into smithereens. Trowa just looked at the stronger and faster Gundam, then turned his attention back to the battle. The unknown pilot smiled to herself, well, it was more like a judging smirk.   
"Not bad," she muttered moving her hands from her Gundam's controls. "Looks like those pilots are really going to finish this thing off."  
  
She continued to watch, enjoying the fun, as the pilots fought, their attention completely on the battle at hand. The pilots also protected each other, by fighting off suits on sneak attacks or if there were too many for just one of them to handle. Trowa whirled around at one particular point, and sent a cascade of bullets from Heavyarm's left arm cannon, into a suit, which was attacking Quatre's Gundam from behind. The pilot screamed, and the suit was obliterated.  
"Thanks Trowa," his fellow pilot called.  
"You're welcome." Quatre's attention was suddenly grabbed by a flashing light in his cockpit, warning him of an impending attack. The battle was practically won accept for a couple of remaining OZ soldiers who didn't know when to quit, and Heero was handling them. So where was the attack coming from? That was soon answered as his screen flashed onto the area around them. A remaining Virgo, which they had missed, was heading right towards Duo and his Gundam.  
"Duo, look out!" Quatre exclaimed turning Sandrock around. Duo whirled around in shock as the Virgo came within inches of jabbing his weapon into his Gundam's head. He closed his eyes, expecting a huge explosion, but none came.  
"Who or what is that?" he heard Wufei ask. He opened his eyes and gazed up. Slightly lowering his shield, he could just see something towering behind the Virgo, and right through the suits chest, stuck a glowing green energy beam. The pilot's scream echoed over the airwaves, momentarily deafening the pilots, and shortly afterwards the suit was in burning pieces at Deathscythes feet. The suit behind was revealed. It was a Gundam, but where had it come from? It pulled the weapon back and lowered it, and just stood there as if it were judging them. Finally Duo spoke.  
"Hey, thanks for that, you saved my hide."  
"Well, considering that you had a very small chance of surviving if that attack had gone through, I guess I did you a favour," came the snide response. Wufei scowled.  
"Typical of a women," he commented over the radio. "Always ready to demean a guy, when they're weaker." He was surprised when the girl snorted.  
"Do you always think that of women Wufei Chang?" she asked. "Or is that just a comment aimed at me?" Wufei's frown darkened, as Quatre raised his Gundam's arm to stop him attacking.  
"Look, we're just thanking you, there's no need for a slang war to start. We already have one war to deal with." A calm sigh came over the radio, obviously from the girl. The Gundam turned around and fired up its engines, taking to the sky.  
"Wait," Quatre called after her. "You know Wufei's name, you obviously know ours. But we don't know yours."  
"I tell no one my name Quatre Rubarba Winner," the girl told him in a serene manner. "Remember that." The Gundam was soon out of sight.  
"Charming lady," Duo muttered.  
"Indeed, I wonder who she is," Trowa mused with a frown.  
  
  
  
  
  
The very long awaited chapter 2 of my story. Let me know what you think. R&R if you want to see chapter 3. 


	3. Two Thirds of the Puzzle

Ok i've finally updated this fic. I know, i know it's been a while again but i have to find time to do my fics nowadays due to work and what not. But since i've had a few days off, i've been catching up a little bit. Hope you like this chapter. I apologise as i have spelt the 'I will kill you' words Heero is famed for saying in Japanese wrong, as i'm not that good a speller. lol, oh well.  
  
The five pilots landed their gundams back at the base and were greeted by Rashid. The tall Arabian greeted Quatra with a slight bow, and addressed the other pilots with a simple nod.  
  
"We'll have your suits fixed up in no time master Quatre," he told him quietly. Quatre nodded his thank you and headed into the main base, disappearing to the living room. His fellow pilots followed him quietly and settled themselves down around the lounge. Duo settled himself against the table and turning on the computer began typing away, for what reason the other pilots didn't know. Heero turned his attention to the window and stared out of it quietly, Trowa sat down on the sofa and concentrated his thoughts on the female pilot who'd saved Duo's neck while Quatre and Wufei disappeared into the kitchen to get something to eat and drink. The two pilots returned not long later and settled themselves down onto the two easy chairs, casually chewing on a sandwich and something that looked like sushi.   
  
"Damn it!" Duo cried slamming his hand onto the computer table in frustration. "This shot is all I got, I knew I should have got a complete angle shot of that thing." His fellow pilots turned to look at him, surprised at the Deathscythe pilot's sudden outburst, then they turned their gaze to the computer screen. He'd called up an image from his gundams image logs of the mysterious gundam and quite a simple one it was at that. He pulled up a close up of the suit, but it revealed nothing.   
  
"Duo, you're not going to find anything on that suit," Quatre soothed, putting his half eaten sandwich down on a plate. "Even I barely got anything, and I was staring straight at it. The only thing we can be sure of is that it was black and crimson coloured and had an energy beam weapon." Duo scowled, angry with him self for not getting a few better shots of the odd suit. The other thing that was bugging him was that the pilot had been female. He didn't know a female could master a gundam, a normal mobile suit sure but a gundam like that? That suit must've been really something if it could just turn up out of nowhere and destroyed that suit as if it were nothing, then again good training could accomplish that.  
  
"That girl must've had similar training to us," Duo commented. "I can certainly say that any normal soldier would not have been able to do what she did, and be so confident and cocky afterwards."  
  
"That's all we need, a female version of Duo," Trowa commented with a touch of humour in his voice.  
  
"Ha ha," Duo snorted. Quatre suppressed the urge to laugh and drank some water from a glass, before adding his bit to the conversation.   
  
"Personally I'm amazed, she managed to destroy a suit with one move and even managed to turn Wufei's own challenge against him without raising a weapon." Wufei snorted indignantly at Quatre's light-hearted comment, causing the Sandrock pilot to laugh.  
  
  
  
Heero had been listening silently to their conversation, as images of the battle raced through his mind. There it was, the gundam piloted by a teenage girl; he knew it was a teenage girl because her voice was had been too light to belong to an adult. She was probably about the same age as him and his fellow pilots, and he could almost picture a dark haired girl but he couldn't be sure of that image. Quatre was right about her challenging Wufei the way he challenged others, especially women; that had been something he never expected to hear. She had come out of nowhere, and their gundams wouldn't have noticed her arrival for several reasons. One could be that she had stealth technology built into her suit, second was that in the ensuing battle she could've simply appeared and they'd been too busy fighting to notice, three they could've been too worried about Duo to see her coming or the other option, was that she'd been there already and they hadn't seen her.  
  
"Did your suits pick up her arrival?" Heero asked out of the blue. Quatre who was still laughing at the look on Wufei's face stopped and looked at him, while the other three pilots turned from what they were doing to look at him. Trowa thought about it, trying to remember back to if he'd been warned of her arrival, but there was no recollection of it.  
  
"Sorry Heero, I didn't have any warning." The other three pilots shook their heads in agreement.   
  
"She certainly didn't appear while we were fighting, we would've seen her," Wufei commented resting his head on his clasped hands.  
  
"Well that rules out two of my thoughts," Heero told them. "One she couldn't have just appeared, during the battle or just in time to save Duo's hide, we'd have seen her for sure."  
  
"So what do you think Heero, that she was there already or something or that she has some sort of stealth suit?" asked Duo.  
  
"Probably both."  
  
"That certainly narrows it down," Trowa agreed, although sarcasm was evident in his voice. Duo turned and rested his head on his hands just like Wufei was doing, while Quatre finished his sandwich quietly. Trowa got up and walked over to where Heero was standing, leaning against the windowpane. He looked down at the supply carriers that were still parked below the base windows. I wonder if that pilot was here last night, he thought staring at the three vehicles.  
  
  
  
Many miles away to the opposite side of the desert in another secure desert base, a black and crimson coloured gundam carefully landed in a holding pad and grappling holders. The cockpit doors opened, and the young female pilot stepped unbuckled her safety harness and stood up, surveying the huge underground base. The cliff finished closing and putting her foot in the hoisting stirrup she was lowered down to the ground. Her raven black hair fell loosely over her shoulder, and she immediately flicked it back. The artificial light in the base illuminated her fern green eyes, giving them a more sinister shimmer then the sun did when it shone on them. She took her foot out of the stirrup and it shot back up to its resting position by her gundam's cockpit.  
  
"Have fun Katrina?" asked a female voice. Katrina turned her attention to the shadows of the base and grinned coldly, as two more female figures walked into the light. The one girl was the same height as her with shoulder length jet-black hair, slicked back and tied into a tight bun behind her head. Dark, nearly emotionless eyes stared at her, while a cold smile graced the girls face.  
  
"Yes I did Win, those gundam boys are fun to watch. I never knew they had such power though."  
  
"And to think we're always told to learn everything about our enemies," commented the second girl. Katrina turned her eyes on her next; the girl was smaller than her and several months younger. She had blonde medium length hair, and mysterious blue eyes that held secrets that no one would ever learn unless she gave them up willingly.  
  
"I wouldn't say enemies Tessa," Win commented, her cold smile changing to a smirk. "I'd say more like, unwitting allies."  
  
"The unwitting part is right,' Katrina laughed as she headed into their main base.  
  
  
  
Tessa and Win followed and three sat down around the slightly smaller lounge. Tessa was going over another mission spec, making sure she assimilated every detail. She wouldn't have to leave for another couple of days, so she was in no rush to head off. Win was busy re-doing her hair; when it was loose it fell just past her shoulders but she hated it loose and often left it tied up. Katrina simple lay down on the couch and went to sleep, like she ever had a restful sleep anymore. Each of the three girls were different from each other, so different it was hard to believe that they were allies AND friends; in fact the only thing they had in common was their love of fighting a good battle. Win Yen was Wins full name, it meant Warrior Maid and that was what she was, and she'd been trained as a warrior since she was able to walk and talk. She often remembered that fact as she stared at herself in the mirror, she loved nothing more than a good fight, but she often preferred it to be an honourable fight. All her family did, and since she still had all of her family, including two brothers and three sisters that was something very important and worth fighting for. Fighting was also her speciality, weapons combat mainly and no one she'd ever fought ever forgot it.  
  
  
  
Tessa was nothing like Win, asides from the good fight part. She was from a well to do family, a family known for it's proper mannerisms. Tessa often felt like she was being torn in half, half her family were pacifists and the other half preferred to fight. She looked like her mom, but had her father's ideals. She'd lost her father several years ago when OZ had killed him in an assassination and she'd sworn to pay them back. That was when she'd begun training as a pilot; she'd only succeeded because her hatred of OZ had given her strength but now she had her two allies to help her. Tessa wasn't the type to go around killing, fighting yes, but she only killed when it was necessary. She preferred hacking and sabotage, now that's where she excelled.  
  
  
  
Katrina was different from both girls; she'd had a sad past and rarely spoke about it to anyone. Only the scientist who'd raised and trained her the last five odd years and her two fellow pilots knew her story. She'd only been eleven when her known family had been killed, both her parents and her older brother when OZ had attacked her home. Tessa and Win were the only ones she even saw as family now, except for the scientist of course. Katrina harboured a deep hatred towards OZ that no one could match, and she would go to any lengths to cause as much damage to the OZ organization as she could. She trained and learned mainly to kill and sabotage, and she didn't care who she killed. It was ironic how she'd become what she hated the most, but she only saw it as another step in life. Assassination was her game and best strength, and if anyone dared to play with her, they'd lose for sure.  
  
  
  
All the pilots besides Katrina, were interrupted from their quiet tasks several hours later in the early hours of the next morning, as the phone beside Katrina rang. Knowing that the raven-haired pilot wasn't going to wake up and answer it, Tessa got up, walked over to the table and picked up the receiver.  
  
"Tessa," she answered simply. She was silent for a time, while she listened to what the person on the other end of the line was saying. She blew a loose strand of her loose blonde hair out of her face, as the person carried on for a couple of minutes.  
  
"Ok, I'll do it. I'd like some action for a change." She put the receiver back onto its cradle and turned to see Win looking at her. The girl had put her book down and was agitatedly fumbling with a loose strand of black hair.  
  
"And that was?" she asked quietly, hoping not to disturb Katrina, although she was sure she'd wake up sooner or later and shrug whatever she'd been dreaming about off.  
  
"It turns out our unwitting allies are going out on a double mission, main control thinks this would be a good opportunity to see what their lone skills are like."  
  
"And you're going?" asked Win incredulously.  
  
"I'm not entirely defenceless, despite what you and Kat think," Tessa retaliated. She hated it when her two older and taller friends spoke of her like a kid, she may have been smaller and several months younger than them, but she wasn't a push over. Give her a gun and a target and she'd hit it every time, and that included training sessions and real life combat. She preferred the solid use of a gun, especially her XC20, a gun especially made for her. Katrina liked knives, and Win liked swords. To each his or her own she thought. Win could only laugh at Tessa's flushed face, and patted her shoulder.  
  
"I'm kidding tomo," she smiled, using the Japanese word for friend. "You'll do fine. Katrina would say the same, but she's in dream land."  
  
"You mean living hell," Katrina retorted sitting up and brushing her messed up hair back over her shoulder. "But that's my personal world. Have fun Tessa, and have a jab at Wufei if he's there, it makes a girls day." Tessa gave her a nod and patting her gun, which she always kept at her side, headed out of the room. Katrina and Win looked at each other, both thinking the same thing, that she'd be ok. Tessa wasn't prone to getting caught, none of them were but they still feared for her safety. Win always did when the younger pilot went out alone, and so did Katrina. Win shrugged and went to sort a book off the near by mini shelf while Katrina went to find something to eat, her last mission had made her hungry and she hadn't bothered to eat before getting some sleep.  
  
  
  
Unfortunately it was Duo and Quatre on the duet mission, it was meant to be a simple sabotage mission of course, so neither pilot thought anything of it as they flew to the city several miles away. Neither said anything on the flight as they moved the small plane through the air, hoping that no one would ask them to identify themselves. Luckily no one did and they arrived at their destination safely, finding the jeep they'd been told about, waiting for them with the keys safely under the front seat in a bag.  
  
"Ok Duo, let's just try to be careful getting there ok," Quatre told him quietly.  
  
"No sweat, we'll get there, complete our mission and be safely back at home before you can omae o coroso."  
  
"Erm Duo, don't say that. That gives me the creeps, no matter who says it."  
  
"Oops, sorry," Duo apologised rubbing the back of his head. Quatre sighed as he made himself comfortable in the passenger side of the jeep, and fastened his seatbelt while Duo settled himself in the drivers seat. He buckled his own safety belt and turned the key in the ignition; the jeep started without a hitch and pushing the accelerator down, Duo drove the jeep out into the light main street traffic, trying to look as casual as possible. No one stopped them, no one did anything and they were positive they'd complete this mission and get home without having to fight. They didn't realise someone had started following them about half way to their target's head quarters, casually going by in a taxi behind them.   
  
  
  
Duo gently turned the steering wheel and turned into what appeared to be an abandoned lot, in order to take a more private short cut to the target head quarters. The taxi followed quite a way behind, and stopped a street back from the dead end street near by. The occupant of the back seat exited, and paid the driver, before shutting the door and walking away. The driver reversed the car and drove off, leaving the girl to walk the rest of the way. He didn't have a clue why he'd been asked to follow the jeep, but since the girl had paid him a bit extra for driving her, he didn't think anything of it.  
  
  
  
Tessa had put her hair up in a short blonde wig, hiding the true length of her pretty blonde hair, and a pair of red contacts covered her real blue coloured eyes, making them appear purple. By the time she got to the dead end street and entered the building, Duo and Quatre had already disappeared deep into it. Making sure her black tracksuit jacket was fastened properly to account for the cold temperature in the secret underground facility, she disappeared down the staircase. It was really quiet, and she soon found out why. As she walked down the corridor she found numerous guards lying on the ground unconscious.  
  
"They certainly don't beat around the bush," she muttered to herself. She finally found the door that led to the main super computer, and there they were. Duo stood behind Quatre keeping any eye out for guards, while Quatre tapped away at the keys to the computer panel. Tessa smiled and slid into the darkness, this wasn't her idea of fun but it was a mission none the less. She watched for several minutes as Quatre tapped away at the keys, listening to the sound of the keys clicking away, her favourite sound.  
  
"Damn, this computer is seriously encrypted. I knew their security was good but not this good that it has six different kinds of encryption codes. Duo, I need your help here." Duo turned and walked over, leaning over another keyboard. His fingers began to fly over the keys along with Quatre's, while Tessa stood in the darkness shaking her head. Amateurs she thought, six codes is nothing. She was dying to go over, push them aside and crack the codes herself, but she was only allowed to observe not interact. They'd better hurry anyway she thought, those guards won't stay unconscious for long and there's no way this infiltration will stay unnoticed for long.   
  
"Come on," she whispered. "Surely, you can crack those codes." Duo looked up and turned his head to the left and right, listening in case anyone was coming. Tessa slid deeper into the shadows, and decided it was best now if she kept quiet.  
  
  
  
Several minutes past, Quatre and Duo between them had managed to break four sets of the codes and were starting on the fifth, when a sound caught all their ears; someone was coming and they were coming fast. Duo moved over to the door and shoved it closed, pressing his whole weight against it, while he locked the door. Quatre moved to help him, but the Deathscythe pilot waved him back to the computer.  
  
"No you keep trying to break that code, I'll keep them out." Quatre rushed back to the main computer and began typing again. His fingers raced over the keys like there was no tomorrow, the fifth set of encryption codes were broken and he began on the sixth. He could hear the soldiers trying to break the door down, and Duo struggling to keep it closed.  
  
"Hang in there Duo!" Quatre called. "I'm nearly done." Finally Quatre tapped the final key, and the computer information began to file down the screen immediately. He pulled out a small disc and pushed it into a disc slot and once again he began tapping away at the keyboard hurriedly, as he heard the door begin to crack under the strain of all the people throwing themselves against it.  
  
"Hurry Quatre, this door is buckling."  
  
"Just one more minute," he yelled back.  
  
"I don't know if we've got a minute," Duo yelled readying his gun. Tessa shook her head they were going to get caught for sure.  
  
"Quatre!"  
  
"Just a second…done," Quatre announced pressing the enter key. The main computer crackled, and tiny sparks fled through it as whatever Quatre had inserted into it, began destroying it from the inside out.  
  
  
  
Just as Quatre readied his gun, the door was thrown open. At least half a dozen or more soldiers swarmed into the room, rifles in hand. Duo had been thrown to the floor in the ensuing break in, and had dropped his gun in the process. Quatre ran to help him up, and found three rifles pointed directly at him.  
  
"Put your weapon down kid," one ordered. Quatre had no choice and dropped the weapon on the floor. Quatre got up on his own, while one of the other guards pulled Duo up by the back of his collar. Tessa slid behind a couple of chairs and knelt down, pulling out her gun and making sure it was loaded. Then she thought about it, what good were six bullets going to do against over half a dozen soldiers. She'd have to try and get out when they'd gone. One of the men was standing at the computer, tapping away furiously at the keys, while two others tended to the two unconscious guards in the room.  
  
"Oh dear, this may take me a while," Tessa whispered to herself. Two guards placed arm cuffs on Quatre and Duo's arms, and at gunpoint led them out of the room. This is my chance, Tessa thought. While the guy at the computer cursed she slipped out of the room, sticking to the wall like glue as she slipped out of the base.   
  
  
  
She caught up with the men ahead of her as they led the two other gundam pilots into the open; she carefully slipped up the stairs and behind a pile of crates.   
  
"You shouldn't have messed in our plans," one of the guards told the two pilots. "That will either get you imprisoned or executed. I'm sure seeing the gundam pilots dead will be nice for some of us."  
  
"Who says we're gundam pilots?" Duo countered.  
  
"No one but the gundam pilots would've tried something as daring as this and actually done it," the second guard chuckled in response. Duo muttered something under his breath, as the guards kept their guns trained on him and Quatre, obviously waiting for someone.  
  
"Why can't we just shoot them now?" demanded the second guard. "They'll most likely be executed anyway."  
  
"No, our superior may want the honour," his partner argued. "Of course, I don't see why we can't have a bit of fun while we wait for the transport vehicle to arrive." With that Duo and Tessa could only watch as the first guard walked over to Quatre and jammed his knee into the blonde pilots stomach, causing him to double over in pain. He then proceeded to give the smaller pilot a punch in the ribs with his rifle and then again with his fist; Quatre coughed violently as Duo placed his cuffed hands on his friends shoulder.  
  
"Hey you didn't have to do that!" Duo yelled at him, only to receive a smack in the face from the barrel of the other guy's rifle in the face. He lifted his hand and touched the tender spot on his cheek, growling angrily; he should not have done that. He stood back up and kicked the guard in the side powerfully, knocking him off balance, only to have his partner place his gun directly at his head. Duo swallowed and stepped backwards.   
  
"Don't try that again," he warned. "Or I will shoot you." He tapped the trigger or his rifle, and a moment later a shot was heard. The guard grasped his hand in agony as blood began to seep from it, and his gun hit the floor with a clatter.  
  
  
  
His partner turned round ready to fire a shot at whoever had fired that bullet, but found a gun already pointed at him. It looked pretty impressive, and probably pretty powerful as well. On the other end was an arm, attached to that was a teenage girl with short blonde hair and purple eyes. Her eyes watched him closely, watching for any sudden movement he tried. Her index finger was tight around the trigger of her weapon, and she looked ready to shoot him if he tried anything.  
  
"Put your weapon down and back away from it, or I may decide you're a better target than your friend," she told him sternly. Slowly the soldier dropped his gun onto the ground and backed away from it, holding his hands up. The girl stepped forwards and picked up the rifle, but instead of switching weapons, she simply hooked it over her shoulder. Thinking he could get one over on her, the guard shifted and reached for a concealed weapon but the girl was much quicker and in one shot the extra gun was on the floor.  
  
"You shouldn't have done that," she told him striding over. "I'm not going to waste anymore bullets on you though." With that final word she hit him in the side and right between the shoulder blades as he double over, and he collapsed to the ground unconscious.   
  
"You little snake!" the other guard roared rushing at her. Tessa had momentarily forgotten about him and within seconds he'd snatched up his gun and despite his injured hand, he fired at her. Tessa jumped aside easily, rolled into a half kneeling position and shot him. The guy's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the ground dead, blood seeping from his mouth, she'd got him right in the heart.   
  
"Idiot," she muttered walking over to him. She knelt down and took the keys to the cuffs off his belt. She stared disgustedly at his white body, as his lips turned blue and blood continued to seep from the two injuries.  
  
"Once I've freed you, I suggest leaving immediately," she told the two other pilots. "That gunshot would've alerted their buddies down stairs and I'd bet none of us want to be around for that reunion." She turned the key in the cuffs on Quatre's arms and then released Duo.  
  
"Thank you," Quatre croaked out. "Who are you?"  
  
"I can't tell you that Quatre and we don't have time for an introduction session anyway." The sound of footsteps on the stairs through the door came to their ears on the wind, and throwing the keys carelessly aside the blonde checked her gun was safe in its holster and disappeared over the wall like a cat.  
  
"Wait!" Quatre called out, suddenly grasping his chest.  
  
"Later Quatre, we've got to go!" Duo yelled leading his injured friend to the jeep. With Quatra settled in the back of the jeep, Duo turned the key sharply in the ignition and not bothering to put his seatbelt on, did a 90 degree turn and drove away just before the other soldiers got into the open.   
  
  
  
Tessa heard the jeep screech as she ran down the other side of the block of old buildings and knew they'd gotten away. She stopped another block away and removed her wig, letting her real hair drop down her back, and it felt good to get the wig off. She lowered her head slightly and removed the contacts, revealing her cool azure blue eyes.  
  
"Why can missions never be simple?" she asked herself and quietly made her way back into the main city, at least now she could get back to the base and have a rest. She'd be able to meet up with her ride back relatively soon, if he met her where he was supposed to of course.  
  
  
  
Duo breathed a sigh of relief as they headed back to the waiting jet, they'd gotten the job done sure, but not without a price. Quatre was still coughing, but it sounded like he was getting over it. They also had a second brand new thing to think about, another person saving their hides and once again it was a girl. Although as he thought about it on the drive back to the jet, brown eyes and blonde hair? That didn't seem right, and there was something about her hair to, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it yet. He was more concerned about getting Quatre back to the base, to make sure he hadn't sustained a serious injury from those punches.  
  
  
  
He drove the jeep up to where they'd first picked it up, and having no need for it anymore, left the keys and gave Quatre a hand to the jet, but the other pilots gently shrugged him off.  
  
"I'm ok Duo," he told him in a rasped voice. "I can walk."  
  
"Sorry Quatre, just concerned that's all."  
  
"I know and thank you." Duo grinned and closed the entrance ramp up, before sitting in the other pilot seat. Quatre occupied the other and had just finished fastening the safety belt when Duo settled down and fastened his own. The jet took off smoothly and no one bothered them as they flew home. Duo was unusually quiet, so Quatre tried to talk to him.  
  
"Is there something wrong Duo?" he asked worriedly.  
  
"Huh?" Duo responded turning his head. "Oh yeah, sure Quatre everything's fine. Why do you ask?"  
  
"You seem a little, preoccupied. I was just wondering if our mission had something to do with it, or that girl maybe."  
  
"Yeah, I guess that girl did arouse something," Duo confirmed. "It's just the way she looked, somehow it seemed false to me."  
  
"False?" Quatre questioned.   
  
"You know fake, as if her hair and eyes were being hidden to protect her identity."  
  
"I didn't notice," Quatre told him rubbing his chest.  
  
"Hmm. Oh well, no use thinking about it. She was probably that pilot from yesterday or someone who works with her." Duo shrugged it off and carried on piloting the jet, while Quatre slept in the other seat.  
  
  
  
Tessa met up with her ride not long later exactly where she'd said to meet her; only she was late in turning up herself. The guy in the front seat grinned at her as she sat down beside him, placing the wig and contacts in a bag at her feet.  
  
"Did you have fun Miss. Johansson?" he asked as he started the car up and drove into the traffic.  
  
"If you define fun as having to save two capable peoples butts, then yes." Her driver chuckled and carried on the drive back to the main base.  
  
R&R if you want to know what happens in the next chapter. 


End file.
